An article published 10-19-2004 on www.commondreams.org, defines the word:

The primary issues of Christian Liberalism were birthed when Jesus spoke the profoundly prophetic words found in Matthew 25:31-46. These scriptures reveal God's heart for the poor, the sick and other neglected people ... . His Liberalism lives on today and the issues have not changed much.

Liberalism as defined by Webster's 3rd New International Dictionary: "a political philosophy based on belief in progress, the essential goodness on man, and the autonony of t he individual and standing for tolerance and freedom for the individual from arbitrart authority in all spheres of life.

Jesus was a liberal. Think about it.
"Liberal" means open-mndedness, thinking for yourself, challenging the status quo, caring for the disadvantaged, fighting for the working class, standing for racial, gender and sexual equality, supporting religious diversity, adhering to James Madison's principle of the separation of church and state.

Some will say that "liberal" means empty-headed, atheistic, unpatriotic. If that is their definition, they err.

Walter Cronkite once wrote:

"I do not consider a liberal necessarily to be a leftist.
A liberal to me is one who ... is unbeholden to any specific belief or party
or group or person, but makes up his or her mind on the basis of the facts and
the presentation of the facts at the time. That defines who I am. I have never
voted a party line. I vote on the individual and the issues." --
interview in TIME magazine, 11/3/2003, page 8.

Some quotes which I hold are basic to a liberal position:

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure
that it is right; it is the spirit which seeks to understand
the minds of other men and women; which weighs
their interests alongside its own, without bias."
Judge Learned Hand -- 5/21/44

If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation,
it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe
what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion .
or other matters of opinion... .
Justice Jackson, 1943

Licence they mean, when they cry "Liberty." For who
loves that must be wise and good. John Milton.

Any scientist may read and dismiss them as irrelevant,
but he may not dismiss them without reading them,
for this is in a sense the mortal sin of science --
not looking at all the evidence at hand.
T. M. Hesburgh, SCIENCE, 1/27/1961

Very little of what we do is important.
It is, however, important that we do it.
-- Greg Cummins, 2/16/03

Property is never owned, only held.
We don't own land, we only lease it from our children.
-- Colosimos (Mexican statesman)

Ask someone to change -- you need to respect
them enough to be able to articulate their position.

11th commandment. Never take thyself too seriously. EEB

The best things in life -
are not things.P>
There is no saturation point in education. TJ Watson

The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure
that it is right; it is the spirit which seeks to understand
the minds of other men and women; which weighs
their interests alongside its own, without bias."
Judge Learned Hand -- 5/21/44

Christianity -- Not what one believes
but to whom we relate. A journey.

Christianity - I don't understand it - but I know what it is
about. It is not a checklist; not a transaction;
not what we do. But it is who we are.

The goals of a liberal education (adapted from Godsey)
1. Develop the ability to think both clearly and precisely
2. Develop the ability to use language effectively
3. Develop the ability to define & solve problems
4. Develop the ability to analyze data
5. Develop the capacity for self-transcendence
6. Develop the ability to listen
7. Develop the ability to learn how to learn
8. Develop the ability to make informed judgments
9. Develop the ability to make rational moral judgments
10. Understand the impacts of religious commitments
11. Contribute to the advancement of knowledge
12. Develop empathty with other people.
13. Develop an ever expanding life credo

To be a Christian
is not to KNOW a truth,
but to BE a truth. Kirkegaard

God" is not God's name.
It is OUR name
for the mystery
that looms within and without
and beyond the limits of our vision.

Whenever an individual considers
a given (mental) process
as being too obvious to permit of any investigation into
its origin, and shows resistance to such an investigation,
we are right in suspecting that the actual origin is
concealed from him -- almost certainly because of its
unacceptable nature. - Ernest Jones

At the last judgment, the balcony-sitter may plead,
"I never harmed a fly." But the Judge will say,
"The fly that you never harmed
carried the plague to millions." -- Franklin Littell (1969)

"This world is no native country of yours;
go where you will, you are only a
foreigner, only a visitor in it.
Nothing will ever bring you rest
except being closely united to Jesus.
Why stand gaping here?
This is no place for you to settle down.
Heaven is your destination and you should look
upon this earthly scene only as a transit-camp."

I don't believe in a fate that falls on men however they act;
but I do believe in a fate that falls on men unless they act.
G. K. Chesterton

Never ascribe to malice that which may simply be
incompetence or ignorance.
Never ascribe to incompetence
that which may simply be a contrary assumption.

Our life begins to end on that day when we
become silent about things that matter. MLK Jr.

Inarticulate repugnance does not ground a moral view.

The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas,
never returns to its original size. liver Wendell Holmes Jr.